Myostatin Expression in MDS Patients with Wasting Syndrome

Background and Objective: Myostatin (Myo) regulates the growth of skeletal muscles and inactivating Myo leads to excessive muscle growth. This study aim is to investigate a possible role of myostatin in the wasting syndrome of MDS patients. Materials and Methods: Eighty-one patients with MDS and 17 healthy controls were involved in this study. Muscle tissue was obtained from the biceps muscle. Myo expression was estimated using real-time PCR (Myo/actin gene ratio was used). TNF-α, IL-1, IL-2, Il-6, TGF-β and leptin was measured in the serum using ELISA. Myo RNA μg^–1 of whole muscle RNA was calculated. Results: Mutations or polymorphisms in the myostatin gene were not detected suggesting different regulations of the gene. Higher expression Myo gene was observed in RA, RAEB and RAEB-T patients compared to CMML, RARS patients and healthy individuals. Higher serum TNF-α, IL-1, IL-2, Il-6, TGF-β and leptin were observed in patients with wasting syndrome in comparison to those without and healthy. Conclusion: TNF-α levels >500 ng mL^–1 is associated with increased expression of the Myo gene in muscle cell cultures and therefore may contribute to wasting. Other mechanisms cannot be excluded of course.